mushy
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jan 20, 2008
- Messages
- 680
Meat. Meat. Meat.
Spring has sprung here in north east USA. Barbeque season is upon us. As such, I would like to offer up some obscene meat porn. Anyone who knows me is aware of my love for simple cuts prepared simply. The first main ingredient is love. The second is MEAT.
Part 1: Prep 11pm the night before.
This is an eight pound beef brisket. The brisket is a tough muscle from the diaphragm region of the steer. As a muscle that works rather hard, it is by nature a tough and stringy cut of meat. The trick is to break down the connective tissue (collagen) into finger licking goodness (gelatin) There are only two methods of cooking that really work here: a wet braise or a dry smoke (slow and low). I will be attempting the latter followed by a variation of the first.
Today we season. The meat is rubbed with kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper as well as a "dry rub". My dry rub is a pure DIY blend and is ground to a fine powder. It's a mixture of paprika, dried chilies, oregano, mustard seed, etc.
Here is another shot showing the 1/4 inch fat cap on the other side. This will be invaluable during the cooking portion of this exercise.
Part 2: Fire 9am
This is my baby doll...
I cleaned her out a bit then I piled some charcoal I had started in a chimney starter into the firebox and added more fresh coal on top of that.
You never really want to cook on fresh coal. I only added it to help raise the internal temperature of the smoker to cook off any moisture or critters that had found it's way in there over the winter. I let it cook for about 45 minutes at 300º to make sure.
Why don't you want to cook on fresh coals? Here's why:
Creosote. White smoke. Bad cooking mojo. It tastes bitter and ashy and may be carcinogenic.
Part 3: Smoke 11am
The fire has died down to a smolder and I've added yet another chimney full of coals. I let that settle in and get the internal temperature of the cooking chamber down to about 210º. Now for the wood. In a perfect world, charcoal provides ONLY heat and the wood provides the smoke. I'm using two year seasoned apple wood.
The brisket has been sitting at room temperature for just over an hour. Then we let Maillard have his way with it...
Notice that it is placed fat side up. This will allow the fat to melt INTO the meat as it slowly dissolves keeping it moist throughout the long process.
At 1:30pm:
At 4pm: Notice the rich mahogany color.
Part 4: Braise
At this point, I wrap the brisket in double layers of heavy duty aluminum foil. What is the braising liquid? Not to worry. It will produce it's own that is more flavorful than anything I could add.
6:30pm
Internal temp just hit 200°. Time to damper down and let it coast until my wife gets home.
7:15pm
About 15 minutes prior to serving, I put it on a hot grill (gas) to sear the outside a bit. The foil process makes the crust or the "bark" a bit mushy and 15 minutes or so on direct heat helps to bring it back to it's barky goodness.
Remove from the heat. Let rest for about 10 minutes and carve LENGTH WISE. Yes lengthwise. Yo have to cut against the grain for the real melt in your mouth goodness.
Before the big reveal, let me just address serving. It can be served sliced on a plate (or on butcher paper traditionally) or in sandwich form or over a salad or mixed into baked beans or whatever. It can be served with barbeque sauce, however who needs barbeque sauce when you have this:
That's what came out of the foil. And it is so delicious I could drink it.
Now, finally:
Notice the color of the bark. Notice the pink smoke ring just under that. Then notice the glistening juices.
I took a bit of chance live-blogging this the way I did. It doesn't always come out this good.
We served them on potato rolls with a little bit of cole slaw on top, spilling some of the jus on our plates and mopping it up with our sandwiches. It was succulent, moist, smokey without covering the all important flavor of the meat. The rub has a bit of a savory/spicy kick and there's a hit of sweetness as well. All in all, a very well balanced bit of que if I do say so.
Spring has sprung here in north east USA. Barbeque season is upon us. As such, I would like to offer up some obscene meat porn. Anyone who knows me is aware of my love for simple cuts prepared simply. The first main ingredient is love. The second is MEAT.
Part 1: Prep 11pm the night before.
This is an eight pound beef brisket. The brisket is a tough muscle from the diaphragm region of the steer. As a muscle that works rather hard, it is by nature a tough and stringy cut of meat. The trick is to break down the connective tissue (collagen) into finger licking goodness (gelatin) There are only two methods of cooking that really work here: a wet braise or a dry smoke (slow and low). I will be attempting the latter followed by a variation of the first.
Today we season. The meat is rubbed with kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper as well as a "dry rub". My dry rub is a pure DIY blend and is ground to a fine powder. It's a mixture of paprika, dried chilies, oregano, mustard seed, etc.
Here is another shot showing the 1/4 inch fat cap on the other side. This will be invaluable during the cooking portion of this exercise.
Part 2: Fire 9am
This is my baby doll...
I cleaned her out a bit then I piled some charcoal I had started in a chimney starter into the firebox and added more fresh coal on top of that.
You never really want to cook on fresh coal. I only added it to help raise the internal temperature of the smoker to cook off any moisture or critters that had found it's way in there over the winter. I let it cook for about 45 minutes at 300º to make sure.
Why don't you want to cook on fresh coals? Here's why:
Creosote. White smoke. Bad cooking mojo. It tastes bitter and ashy and may be carcinogenic.
Part 3: Smoke 11am
The fire has died down to a smolder and I've added yet another chimney full of coals. I let that settle in and get the internal temperature of the cooking chamber down to about 210º. Now for the wood. In a perfect world, charcoal provides ONLY heat and the wood provides the smoke. I'm using two year seasoned apple wood.
The brisket has been sitting at room temperature for just over an hour. Then we let Maillard have his way with it...
Notice that it is placed fat side up. This will allow the fat to melt INTO the meat as it slowly dissolves keeping it moist throughout the long process.
At 1:30pm:
At 4pm: Notice the rich mahogany color.
Part 4: Braise
At this point, I wrap the brisket in double layers of heavy duty aluminum foil. What is the braising liquid? Not to worry. It will produce it's own that is more flavorful than anything I could add.
6:30pm
Internal temp just hit 200°. Time to damper down and let it coast until my wife gets home.
7:15pm
About 15 minutes prior to serving, I put it on a hot grill (gas) to sear the outside a bit. The foil process makes the crust or the "bark" a bit mushy and 15 minutes or so on direct heat helps to bring it back to it's barky goodness.
Remove from the heat. Let rest for about 10 minutes and carve LENGTH WISE. Yes lengthwise. Yo have to cut against the grain for the real melt in your mouth goodness.
Before the big reveal, let me just address serving. It can be served sliced on a plate (or on butcher paper traditionally) or in sandwich form or over a salad or mixed into baked beans or whatever. It can be served with barbeque sauce, however who needs barbeque sauce when you have this:
That's what came out of the foil. And it is so delicious I could drink it.
Now, finally:
Notice the color of the bark. Notice the pink smoke ring just under that. Then notice the glistening juices.
I took a bit of chance live-blogging this the way I did. It doesn't always come out this good.
We served them on potato rolls with a little bit of cole slaw on top, spilling some of the jus on our plates and mopping it up with our sandwiches. It was succulent, moist, smokey without covering the all important flavor of the meat. The rub has a bit of a savory/spicy kick and there's a hit of sweetness as well. All in all, a very well balanced bit of que if I do say so.
